Daesh releases purported 'new audio' of Abu Bakr al Baghdadi
A confirmation of the voice on the audio belonging to the Daesh leader could date the message to this month and disprove reports of his death.
This file image made from video posted on a militant website on July 5, 2014, purports to show the leader of Daesh, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, delivering a sermon at a mosque in Iraq during his first public appearance.
Daesh has released a new militant audio recording, purportedly of its shadowy leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, his first in almost a year.
In the audio, Baghdadi whose whereabouts and fate remain unknown urges followers to "persevere" and continue fighting the terror group's enemies everywhere.
The 54-minute audio entitled "Give Glad Tidings to the Patient" was released by the Daesh's central media arm, al Furqan Foundation, on Wednesday evening.
The audio's authenticity could not be independently verified and there were no clues as to where it was recorded.
If the voice on the audio is confirmed to be that of al Baghdadi, this would date the message to this month and disprove reports of his death.
The question of whether Baghdadi is dead or alive has been a continuing source of mystery and confusion. Daesh has lost around 90 percent of the territory it controlled in Iraq and Syria in 2014, when it declared its so-called "caliphate."
He is believed to be hiding somewhere in the desert that stretches across the Syrian-Iraqi border region. His last audio message was on September 28, 2017 in which he called on his followers to burn their enemies everywhere and target "media centres of the infidels."
In Wednesday's recording, Baghdadi congratulates followers on the occasion of the Muslim holiday of Eid al Adha and makes references to current events.
He also criticises surrenders by the rebels in southern Syria to regime's Bashar Assad's forces, calling them traitors and urges fighters to join the Daesh instead. He also urges patience, perseverance and continued jihad, or holy war.
Baghdadi has only appeared in public once in 2014 in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. There have been recurring reports of his death or injury, including reports by Russian officials last year who said there was a "high probability" that Baghdadi was killed in a Russian air strike on the outskirts of the Syrian city of Raqqa.
US officials later said they believed he was still alive.
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